Charlie Austin sends warning to West Ham, Wolves & Burnley | OneFootball

The former EFL stalwart has issued some strong words to the newly-relegated trio

Former EFL striker Charlie Austin has fired a warning to the newly-relegated trio of Burnley, West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers after their mixed starts in the new Championship season.

In recent years, we have seen multiple sides who have been relegated from the Premier League immediately assert themselves as promotion contenders in the Championship.

That said, only one of the three newly-relegated sides from 2024/25 was able to achieve a first-time promotion in the form of Ipswich Town, whilst Southampton were expelled from competing in the play-off final due to the Spygate scandal and Leicester City were relegated to League One.

Regardless, many had certainly pinpointed West Ham as pre-season title favourites after the Hammers were relegated on the final day of last season with 39 points, as they have retained many big-name players despite the high-profile sales of Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville.

Meanwhile, there has been more change at Turf Moor and Molineux, especially on the managerial front as Nicky Hayen and Cesar Peixoto embarked on their first experiences of the English game, although it hasn't been smooth sailing thus far.

Charlie Austin fires EFL Championship warning to Burnley, West Ham and Wolves

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Austin, 37, is now retired, but during his playing days, built up a strong pedigree in the Championship, winning promotion with Queens Park Rangers and West Bromwich Albion in 2014 and 2020.

With the division undergoing a restructure ahead of the current campaign, meaning six play-off places are now up for grabs instead of four, there are set to be plenty of sides eyeing up a promotion to the Premier League.

However, after four matches played, the newly-relegated sides have just three wins between them, with West Ham getting off the mark against Wolves in a 4-2 success on Tuesday, whilst the Old Gold have defeated Preston North End and Stoke City and Austin's old side, Burnley, remain winless.

Assessing their respective predicaments, the former striker said on his YouTube series, Chaz Kicks Off: "West Ham beat Wolves 4-2 and it was a much-needed win.

"They were two teams where, you can see they have quality, but can you keep it going for 46 games, or even the potential 49 games?

"There's so many tough places to go. It will be interesting to see how those two sides go," he added.

"I have to talk about my old club, Burnley. I put a tweet out the other day, but I had 10 minutes of them on my TV and they were nothing short of appalling.

"The boredom. I feel sorry for the fans at Turf Moor," Austin stated.

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After a frustrating start, which even saw sack calls emerge the way of Nuno after last weekend's 1-1 draw at Watford, West Ham will hope their first league win of the campaign sees them turn a corner ahead of the season's first international break, which lasts the best part of three weeks.

Between now and then, the Hammers have to play Derby County, Bolton Wanderers, Wrexham and Millwall, with the latter of those in particular set to be a test of their resolve due to the intense rivalry which exists between the two sides.

The same can be said for Wolves, who will hope to respond to their first setback under Peixoto with a West Midlands derby success over Birmingham City at St. Andrew's on Sunday, before two more intriguing fixtures against Sheffield United and West Brom - the latter of which is sold out at Molineux.

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Meanwhile, Austin is not the only person with concerns over developments at Turf Moor, even after an active Deadline Day which saw the likes of Largie Ramazani and Reo Hatate arrive at the club.

After just four games, only Preston North End sit below the Clarets, whilst they are the only outfit to have conceded a double-figure tally of goals so far and have also lost the services of star forward, Zian Flemming, to Ipswich Town for £20m.

There was the occasional glimpse of promise in the 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough on Wednesday, but if Hayen isn't able to turn fortunes around quickly, many could see the former KRC Genk boss becoming one of the first managerial casualties of the campaign given Burnley's recent Championship pedigree.